The Champagne Tower
Chapter 01 - The Champagne Tower
Olivia Bennett had imagined her wedding day in a hundred different ways, but never with two hundred guests watching her crawl across broken glass.
The reception filled the Grand Riverton ballroom with chandeliers, white roses, and a champagne tower nearly ten feet tall. Olivia wore the lace gown her late mother had helped design. Beside her stood Julian Cross, handsome, polished, and smiling for every camera. To the city, they were the perfect couple. To Olivia, he had become a stranger during the final weeks before the wedding.
Julian had started asking unusual questions about Bennett Holdings, the family company Olivia would inherit after the ceremony. He wanted account numbers, signatures, and temporary authority “in case something happened during the honeymoon.” When she refused, he laughed and called her paranoid. That morning, Olivia found a blank transfer form hidden beneath their marriage documents.
She said nothing. Instead, she photographed it and sent the image to her family attorney, Thomas Reed. She also placed a copy inside the hidden pocket sewn into her gown, never imagining it might become the most important detail of the night.
At the reception, Julian raised a crystal glass. “To our future,” he announced.
Olivia noticed his business partner, Marcus Vale, standing near the champagne display with her father’s private briefcase. Marcus slipped a folder inside his jacket. Olivia moved toward him, but Julian caught her wrist.
“Drink first,” he whispered.
The champagne smelled faintly medicinal. Olivia set down the glass and demanded to know what Marcus had taken. Julian’s smile disappeared. He tightened his grip, and Olivia pulled away. Her train caught the gold tablecloth.
The champagne tower crashed.
Crystal exploded across the marble floor. Olivia fell hard, landing barefoot among glittering shards. Guests screamed and lifted their phones. Julian did not help her. He pointed at her as though she were a criminal.
“She did this on purpose!” he shouted. “She’s been unstable for weeks.”
Olivia stared up at the man she had almost trusted with everything. Behind him, Marcus slipped through the crowd carrying the stolen folder.
Then Thomas Reed, the silver-haired attorney who had served her family for thirty years, looked down at his phone. His face lost all color.
A banking alert covered the screen:
ASSETS SUSPENDED. OWNERSHIP TRANSFERRED.
May you like
Julian saw the message and smiled.
The wedding had never been about love.
